As the rain clouds rolled away during the first day of tournament play at the Regions Tradition, a bright yellow school bus carrying students from Wenonah High School’s Hospitality and Tourism Academy rolled in.
The students were there to see what hospitality careers look like in action – and to get a “Reality Check.”
“Reality Check is an interactive budgeting game where students are given personas that tell them what job they have, how much they make, whether they have a spouse or kids – and they have to make real world choices about housing, transportation, saving, and more,” explains Keren Treme, Regions Financial Education trainer.
Reality Check is an interactive budgeting game where students are given personas that tell them what job they have. Keren Treme, Regions Financial Education trainer
Reality Check is a part of Regions Next Step financial wellness education and programming, and these workshops are regularly facilitated by Treme and other associates in schools throughout Regions’ footprint.
This student trip and financial education workshop has become something of a tradition within the Regions Tradition – teachers from the Academy have brought classes to the golf tournament for three years now, exposing more students to real world careers in hospitality and real world financial lessons.
But this time the game had a special twist for the students.
“The personas the students received today were personalized to the hospitality industry – for example, a travel agent, chef, or general manager at a hotel,” said Treme. “So students got to see a realistic view of certain jobs in this industry and what they might be making in that space.”
It’s exciting to see the students get excited. Diann Pilgrim, teacher in the Hospitality and Tourism Academy
Diann Pilgrim, a teacher in the Hospitality and Tourism Academy who has been at Wenonah for 35 years, still enjoys these trips and seeing how the students react. “It’s exciting to see the students get excited. To go back to school and hear them talk with other students about what they learned gets me excited and the other teachers feel the same way.”
Treme, who has been teaching financial education to students through Regions for a couple of years now, hopes they walk away from these workshops thinking about the choices they can make now to set them up for success with money later.
“I want students to have this information up front and start practicing now – when they have small responsibilities with their money. If they start building these small habits today, as they go out into the world, they are going to be equipped to make better choices with their money.”
It’s one way Regions is building financial confidence in the next generation.
Read more stories on Doing More Today about what’s happening at the Regions Tradition this year: